Preview

The Crucible Critical Analysis

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
709 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Crucible Critical Analysis
The Crucible tells of a liberal fictionalization in the eyes of Arthur Miller that shows the activities that occurred during the Salem Witch Hunts. This play was written during a time in which citizens of the Unites Staes feared a rise of power in the Soviet Union. The main themes were reputation, fear, and reprisal. These themes are shown throughout the dialogue and monologue. This play teaches of the fear and vengefulness of the Puritans

A good reputation was what every Puritan wanted. This way you can be overlooked as being less likely to be a witch. No one was allowed to work on Sunday and everyone was expected to attend church daily. Anything a citizen does is known by the town. John Proctor and Reverend Parris are examples of characters
…show more content…
Many people are out to get one another for fear and for their own selfish needs. The secret between Abigail Williams and John Proctor is what causes the most uproar in the story. Abigail worked for Elizabeth Proctor in her home as a helper. Mrs. Proctor started to sense bad omens about Abigail being in her home so she was fired. Abigail then claims that Mrs. Proctor is a witch and created a voodoo doll to cause damage to her soul. Abigail starts these claims so that John Proctor will leave his wife when she has died and will be with her. Nurse Rebecca delivered all eight of Ann Putnam’s children and only one child survived. Mrs. Putnam then claims that Rebecca did this purpose and is therefore a witch. Thomas Putnam is a wealthy man and is the first character to start accusing citizens of witchcraft. Thomas Putnam was a wealthy man who owned a lot of land. He used his daughter Ruth to accuse people and take their land away from them after they died. it was a law that if you died that your property was available for auction. Thomas Putnam was the only man around that was able to afford land. He did this to people that were competing with them in an attempt to deplete his competition. (Thomas Putnam

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Arthur Miller’s ‘The Crucible’ is based upon the Salem Witch Trials which occurred in the year 1692. The text also serves as an allegorical warning about much more recent events, in particular the McCarthy Trials of 1953. The McCarthy Trials were exploring communism. ‘The Crucible’ was written to highlight the similarities between McCarthyism and communism in the 1950’s in the United States of America and the witch hunts of Europe in the 17th century. The play is literally written about the witch trials but it is figuratively about the society Miller lived in, in 1953. Thousands of Americans were accused of being communists like in ‘The Crucible’; hundreds of the town’s people were accused of being witches. Three major ideologies that are still relevant in society today are evident in the play, intolerance, mass hysteria and reputation.…

    • 770 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Do you know about The Salem Witch Trials? If not, keep reading. The Salem Witch Trials were a series of accusations of witchcraft towards older women. This took place between 1692 and 1693. As a result, many innocent people were executed. The Crucible written by Arthur Miller is an example of what partially happen in the Salem Witch Tails using real names and real events in his play. The Crucible is mainly about the innocent people who lost their life’s from an injustice way and conflicts between peddling guilty or not guilty for serving to the devil. The reason Miller wrote the Crucible in the first place was to compare it to the accusations to the United States Administration, accusing anyone who supported Communism with or without evidence.…

    • 358 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Crucible by Arthur Miller is an American classic that was written in the early 1950’s. It takes place is Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. It conveys the story of the Salem Witch Trials. At this time, hysteria, deceit, and paranoia absorbed the minds of the Puritan towns of New England.…

    • 304 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    You ask me what parallels there are between the play The Crucible and the event The McCarthy Era. There were many parallels throughout the whole play. In this play everyone was blamed for no reason at all and all everyone one did was make excuses to try and not get their own selves in trouble. They were always wondering why everyone was getting tricked into believing that witches existed and it was because they were all just trying to get themselves out of trouble. Arthur Miller shows the audience that people have not moved on that much from when people were believing in the Salem witch trials. All through this play, Miller used the trails in The Crucible and the McCarthy Era because he realized that the events were the same. Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible to help everyone today, who wasn’t alive back then, notice that they were not going crazy they were just trying to keep themselves alive and just they were believing everything they heard.…

    • 899 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Of the over 40,000 words brilliantly crafted into a story, only two are able of capturing the meaning of Arthur Miller's play, The Crucible. Set in Salem, Massachusetts during the witch trials, Miller depicts the town and the strong puritan values vested in its people. When accusations of witchcraft run ravage through the streets, such puritan purity is in question. The Crucible is a fitting title for Arthur Miller’s play.The English noun crucible symbolizes Salem, the trials and the resulting changes that occur.…

    • 683 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Your task: to write a Critical Lens essay using TWO of the characters from The Crucible.…

    • 726 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    At the time when “The Crucible” was written, the United States and Russia were going through the Red Scare which was a major influence when Miller was writing this play. Miller’s tactic in writing this play was to remind people of how the hysteria of the witch hunts could be dangerously similar to the communist hunts going on in the United States at the time. Using the history from the Salem Witch Trials, he wrote a story that was sure to educate people about the potential disaster that could come from the carelessness of accusing others.…

    • 632 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Core 1 - The Crucible

    • 853 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The novel, The Crucible was written in 1953 by Arthur Miller, which was based on the Salem Witch Trials existing in the late 1600s. In the play, Abigail and several other young women accuse innocent citizens of Salem for the action of witchcraft. During the trials, many individuals were unfairly persecuted; such as John Proctor. This event in history may be associated with the Red Scare, in which individuals were tried for their questionable influences of communism in the United States. When Miller compares the character of John Proctor to himself, the reader is able to relate the similar experiences that both men faced. The Crucible demonstrates the struggle against corruption involving the court, which lead to the death of many innocent individuals in Salem. The Crucible generates an allegory for Arthur Miller’s struggles with McCarthyism because of his similar experience relating to John Proctor’s battle against the Salem Witch Trials, and the relation between the actions of the court in both situations.…

    • 853 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The author purpose to write this story is to explain why he wrote The Crucible, what pushes him to write such a story. Arthur Miller tried to make life real by showing that things get repeated in history. The McCarthy trials are similar to Salem Witch trials. People were being accused for things that they never did and do not have any proof that they did these thing. The Crucible shows that whatever is happening now happened before, and we are repeating the history. It is important for people to remember so they do not make any more mistakes,or make up any silly stories that will affect society The anti-communist rage in the McCarthy era and the Salem witch trial in Massachusetts destroyed people's lives; the mass hysteria that swept the United States.…

    • 418 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Crucible is a 1953 play by the American playwright Arthur Miller. There are many themes in the play. Guilt, Revenge, and Integrity are quite a few that are depicted throughout the play.…

    • 456 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the community, Puritans didn't have much of wealth differences. Therefore, they had no social hierarchy. All of the Puritans also had good work ethic. They all were strong and hardworking people. They were people that believed they were the chosen ones of God. They believed that man had no control over his destiny, that they as one individual, decided that for themselves, meaning that they didn’t believe in predestination. Predestination, being one of the factors they disagreed with with England. Puritans were all close in what their values were. You were shunned for almost anything that went against God’s word. A major thing that happened was when supernatural things started happening. This caused a big uproar in Puritan society. People claimed to be witches, and they started believing that the Devil himself was among them. Once again, the New England Puritans were primarily based on the word of God. In conclusion, if you did anything against God’s word, you would be looked down upon by the…

    • 565 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a play that takes place in 1692 in the small Massachusetts village of Salem. Salem is a Puritan community; they are a very restrictive society with strong beliefs. They believe in hard work and prayer, therefore they consider material and sexual desires unnatural and evil. Abigail Williams, the main character is the reason for the witch trials that begin in Salem. She is dishonest, manipulative and her seductive ways is what makes her the antagonist of this play.…

    • 872 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Crucible Themes Essay

    • 655 Words
    • 3 Pages

    If you don't believe in witch hunts, that's fine. But the idea of them is very real. The Crucible is a story that takes place in Salem, Massachusetts. This small community is full of superstition and the towns people let their beliefs destroy friendships, and lives. Arthur Miller uses many repeating themes in the play The Crucible. There are many good, and bad themes that come up throughout the play. Some of the common themes of this story are lust, fear, and courage.…

    • 655 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, is a play modeled after the Red Scare. The Red Scare was a period when fear of communism grew to hysteria, and it reflected the topic of The Crucible. In this play, a wave of fear spreads throughout Salem ad accusations of witchcraft begin to rise. A character, John Proctor, displays great pride throughout the play but also demonstrates change because he was at first doubtful, but later comes to realize its severity. John Proctor’s combination of these traits influences the outcome of the play and causes his own demise.…

    • 445 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Crucible Essay

    • 352 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Hysteria overshadowed logic and enabled the townspeople to think that their neighbors were acting out senseless and unbelievable crimes like dealing with the devil & murdering babies. In The Crucible, the townsfolk accepted and became active in the hysterical outbreak not only out of religious loyalty, but also because it gave them a chance to express repressed attitudes & to act on long-held grudges. The most obvious case was Abigail, who used the circumstances to call out Elizabeth Proctor of witchcraft and have her sent to jail. However, many others used the hysteria to their advantage as well. Reverend Parris strengthened his position within the village, no matter how brief, by making scapegoats of people like John Proctor who questioned his authority. The wealthy & ambitious Thomas Putnam gained revenge on Francis Nurse by convicting Rebecca, Francis’s wife, of the uncanny deaths of Ann Putnam’s babies. In the end, hysteria thrived only because people benefited from it. It postponed the principles of daily life and allowed the acting out of every dark motive & hateful urge under the pretense of justice. The witch trials were central to the action of The Crucible, & dramatic accusations/ confessions filled the play even beyond the confines of the courtroom. In the first act, even before the hysteria began, we saw Parris accuse Abigail of dishonoring him, and he then made a series of accusations against his parishioners. Giles Corey and Proctor responded in turn, & Putnam soon joined in, creating chaos even before Reverend Hale entered the scene. The entire witch trial system thrived on accusations along with hysteria. Proctor attempted to break the cycle with a confession of his own, when he admits to the affair with Abigail, but his confession is beat by the accusation of the act of dealing with the devil against him, which in turn demanded a confession. Proctor’s decision at the end of the play to die rather than confess to a sin that he…

    • 352 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays